Soft Robotics - Week 1 (01/24/2025)

Defining a Soft Robot & Exploring Soft Materials

Many of the soft robots discussed in class involved pumping air into a soft material such as silicone or mesh and utilizing the expansion or compression of air to generate movement to achieve a goal like travel or grip.
In my research, I came across this truss robot design by researchers at Stanford that uses 4 air tight tubs, and instead of using pneumatics to actuate movement, it uses motorized "joints" to roll along the tube and create this octahedron form.

Soft material exploration - Rubber End Pin Anchor

Description:
​This piece of rubber is used to hold the end pin of a large instrument, such as a cello, in place. It has a bumpy and grippy texture on the top surface to keep an end pin in position, and that grippy texture continues to the bottom to prevent slipping on well waxed floors such as concert hall stages.

Softness:

• ​This object is flexible by way of its form - it's easy to bend along the recessed parts of the bumpy texture.
• The object is not stretchy nor is it compressible as the material is quite dense. Reminiscent of a ballistic dummy that is used to test weapons.
• When the end pin pierces through the rubber, the material is torn and pushed apart and the cut remains, however the surrounding material returns to its place from before the tear. Not exactly "self-healing" but very similar concept.
• While I'm uncertain about this fact, I'd be inclined to believe that the rubber anchor can limit sound transmission through the floor better than anchors made of other materials.